Is 2012 the year of the thoughtful athlete?

Signs that we'll soon be auld lang syne-ing our way out of 2012 arrive with increasing frequency. "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" (10 p.m. on HBO) gathers a round table of wise men and women (including Mary Carillo, Frank Deford, Jon Frankel, Bernard Goldberg, Armen Keteyian and Andrea Kremer) to discuss and review the best sports stories of the year.

Comment

southcoasttoday.com

Writer

Posted Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Posted Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Signs that we'll soon be auld lang syne-ing our way out of 2012 arrive with increasing frequency. "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" (10 p.m. on HBO) gathers a round table of wise men and women (including Mary Carillo, Frank Deford, Jon Frankel, Bernard Goldberg, Armen Keteyian and Andrea Kremer) to discuss and review the best sports stories of the year.

In addition to the headline-grabbing wins and losses, Gumbel's panel recalls Jeb Corliss, who donned a pair of wings and "flew" off Table Mountain in South Africa; Alex Zanardi, a former Formula 1 driver who did not let an accident, and the loss of both legs, slow him down; and the Isle of Man's dangerous motorcycle race, a competition that has claimed more than 230 lives over the years.

I'm no sportswriter, but two stories that conveniently dovetail with my New York fandom stand out. Who could resist Linsanity? This time last year, Jeremy Lin was sitting on the New York Knicks bench and sleeping on a friend's couch. But after a teammate's injury made him a starter, he led the team to one of the most exciting winning streaks in New York history. In a sports world filled with big egos, Lin reacted to instant celebrity with modesty, good humor and expressions of faith.

Last December, few would wager that 38-year-old New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey would compile a 20-3 record and win Major League Baseball's Cy Young Award. At the time, the nervous Mets organization was just trying to keep Dickey from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in a charity event.

Like Lin, Dickey projects a thoughtful side, and he has said he would have become an English professor had he not taken up baseball. And, like Lin, he is centered by his beliefs.

Lin has since left New York, and Dickey's future is uncertain, but both men certainly made the sports world a little brighter in 2012.

In an ironic twist, quarterback Tim Tebow, one of the top sports stories of 2011, became a New York Jet in 2012. More than any other athlete, he has been known for his public piety. But he has pretty much been consigned to the bench this season, playing on a team that hasn't got a prayer of reaching the Super Bowl.

— Speaking of professions of faith, the 1965 special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (8 on ABC, TV-G) remains the only major holiday special to include references to the New Testament.

Those in the "war on Christmas" crowd who say the media's observation of Christmas has gotten increasingly secular are completely off base. Linus' little speech about shepherds and a manger was fairly surprising stuff in 1965 — probably more surprising than it would be today, when people are a lot more adamant and overt about religiosity.

"Charlie Brown" was not completed by its animators until close to airtime. The sponsors and network had no time to "fix" it. And that's why this little gem about cruel and neurotic children, psychiatry, modern jazz and a dark, cynical view of modern Christmas — and religion — remains a favorite to this day.

— TV-themed DVDs available today include season four of "Quincy, M.E."

The 1904 World's Fair becomes the backdrop to a family melodrama in "Meet Me in St. Louis" (10 p.m., TCM), the 1944 Judy Garland vehicle famous for introducing the bittersweet holiday favorite, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."